First of its kind 'Fully Green' development coming to Kelowna

A unique to North America development is coming to the corner of Ellis Street and Bay Avenue.

Combining a self-storage space with a co-workspace facility, the new 112,000 square-foot building will generate 105% of its electricity through the use of on-site solar panels.

The five-floor EcoLock Kelowna building won’t be connected to the natural gas grid and will also collect, filter and reuse rainwater in a 62,000-litre tank, located under the building, for all planting irrigation.

“Buildings are the number one producer of greenhouse gasses in North America, and this project is raising the bar for sustainable development,” said Don Redden, CEO of Ulmus Development Ltd., the parent company of EcoLock Kelowna.

“With 2.5 billion square feet of self-storage facilities in North America, many of the facilities are low-density, unproductive spaces that don’t contribute to the fabric of a neighborhood. EcoLock Kelowna will demonstrate that there are greener, more customer-focused alternatives to enable dense, walkable urban living and creative storage solutions.”

The co-workspace side of the building will offer professional work and meeting areas for self-employed and business for locals as well as out of town business people.

Backed entirely by private funding, the projected has received the green light from city council and is expected to open to the public by next summer.